


Paging Superman

by wolfiefics



Category: DCU (Comics), Superman (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-27 15:19:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17769263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfiefics/pseuds/wolfiefics
Summary: Lian can't call on Daddy to save the day, so who's the next best thing? Superman of course! Who else would you call on in Metropolis?





	Paging Superman

**Author's Note:**

> This was written post-Titans, pre-Outsiders days.

"Hello, this is 911. State the nature of your emergency." The operator was having a fairly slow night, which was fine by her, but the voice that came over the line seemed destined to liven up the evening.

"H’llo. My name is Lian Ha'per." The voice was very matter-of-fact, very confident, and very, very young.

"Hello, Lian. Can I help you? Is there something wrong?" The operator immediately put on a calm demeanor. The child could begin to freak out anytime.

"My daddy fallded down and has a really icky owie. It’s really yucky," Lian informed the operator with some authority, as if she knew all about "icky owies".

"Okay, honey, are your daddy’s eyes open?" the operator asked gently.

"Nope!" Lian stated in a cheerful tone. "He out like a light!" The child didn't sound too worried and was still quite calm.

The operator suppressed a reluctant smile. "Okay, Lian, do you know where you live?"

"In a ‘partment," Lian’s voice was beginning to show a hint of doubt.

"Do you know what the name of your street is?" The operator sensed this part was going to be trouble. She punched the tracer button on the phone line for the EMT vehicles.

"I’m not ‘posta tell strangers." Lian’s voice sounded slightly rebuking.

"I have to know to help your daddy, Lian," the operator said soothingly. "Can you please tell me your address?"

"Met-oh-plis," Lian answered reluctantly.

The operator rolled her eyes. She already knew they were in Metropolis. This was the Metropolis 911 line, after all. Deciding to keep the conversation going, the operator thought quickly. "Okay, Lian, is the phone a walkaround?"

"No cord?" asked Lian.

"Yes, no cord," chuckled the operator, despite her concern over the child's father's condition.

"Yep!" Lian responded happily, glad to be able to answer something without disobeying her daddy’s instructions.

"Can you walk over to your daddy and tell me what you see?" 

Lian complied. The operator could hear her running over to where her father probably was. "Yucky wound," Lian stated, as if it confirmed what she earlier told the lady on the phone.

The operator sighed. "What does it look like? Is there blood?"

"Yep, but there’s white thing coming out of his arm." Lian sounded fearful. She obviously hadn’t noticed that before.

"Does it look like a bone?" asked the operator. Had Daddy tripped on a toy, been knocked unconscious and broken his arm maybe?

"Maybe," Lian said still sounding worried. "Is he gonna be okay? He’s my daddy, you see. Canary said I take care of him when she not here." 

"You’re doing great, Lian. Tell me what else you see and you can tell Canary you did real good," praised the operator. Who the hell was Canary?

"He on his tummy. Can’t see," Lian told the operator fretfully. 

"Put your hand on his nose real careful and tell me if you feel him breathing," suggested the operator, being careful not to frighten the little girl more than she already was.

"He breathded," Lian said relievedly.

"Okay, now, Lian, can you go sit on the couch or a chair for a few minutes? Stay on the phone while I talk to the hospital people, okay?" The operator smiled at Lian’s disgusted sigh.

" Oh-kay, but we don’t have in-sorance, telephone lady," Lian confided. "Is that bad?"

"No, everything will be fine. You stay there and keep hold of the phone okay?" As an afterthought, the operator asked, "Where your mommy?"

"Mommy’s a ‘ssassin, so Daddy don’t let her see me of’en. Uncle Nightwing said she a bad infuensh on me." Lian didn’t sound too bothered by the problem of no mother. The operator frowned. Uncle Nightwing? Wasn’t Nightwing a Titan? And wasn’t he in Gotham City or something? What kind of family did this kid have? The operator had a sneaking suspicion. "What’s your daddy’s name, Lian?"

"Ars’nal!" Lian informed her as if the woman knew nothing. The operator’s eyes lit up and she punched the SCU line as well. If a superhero was involved, the Metropolis SCU would know what to do.

**

Lian sat there, waiting for the telephone lady at 911 buttons to come back to talk to her. Daddy was still lying on the floor where he’d fallen. She was scared she was in big trouble. She didn’t mean to knock Daddy off his chair where he was hammering in a pretty picture of Ar’zona, but it happened and now Daddy was hurt. She chewed on her lip and kicked the couch in loud bursts of anger at herself.

When the telephone lady still didn’t come back on after a while, Lian thought about what else she could do to get Daddy help. Her eyes lit up as she remembered what Canary told a baby-sitter once. Taking the phone with her to the window, she carefully opened it. Sticking her head out the window Lian began to scream.

"Supe-man! Come help my daddy! Supe-man!" When Superman didn’t magically appear, Lian considered this plan again. She discarded the absurd notion that Superman wouldn't be coming to help her Daddy and shouted again. "Supe-man? My daddy hurt! He need you help! SUPE-MAN!" She shut the window with a frown. No Superman. She put her ear next to the phone but the 911 lady hadn’t come back. Unsure of what else to do, Lian sat next her father and pondered the whole horrendous situation.

**

Clark Kent was driving down the small thoroughfare heading to pick up his dry cleaning when he heard the shout. "Supe-man! Come help my daddy!" Frowning, he tilted his head to pinpoint exactly where the child’s voice was coming from. Then, parking the car and discreetly slipping into the alley, he exposed his bright blue and red costume.

The window shut mere moments before he got close but with his X-ray vision he got a glimpse of Roy Harper lying on the floor. His daughter, Lian, was sitting next to him, looking depressed. She suddenly snatched the phone and began talking into it. He smiled and tapped on the window. The little girl looked up, frightened for a quick second, then her face lit up as she realized who was tapping on the window.

"Supe-man!" she cried out joyfully. "It oh-kay now, lady," he heard her say, "Supe-man take care of my daddy now. Bye-bye!" She hung up the phone and ran to the window. As he stepped into the apartment, Lian informed him solemnly, "Daddy got really bad owie."

On closer inspection superman noted that "Daddy" had a broken arm, probably a small concussion and was going to be sore for a month. It looked like he fell off a chair he was standing on. Superman looked at Lian, who was looking guilty. "What happened, Lian?" he asked her gently.

The strain of being in charge and calm wore off and Lian broke down in tears. "I didn’t mean to!" she wailed. "I was chasing my car and bumped into Daddy’s chair. He was hammering up the picture." She pointed at the lopsided picture of some Arizona mesas hanging on the wall. "He fallded down and won’t wake up!" She sniffled pitifully.

Superman looked around for the hammer and couldn’t see it. Switching to X-ray vision again, he spotted it and frowned. The fall was more serious than he first suspected. The hammer claw had been pushed into Roy’s ribs when he hit the floor. So besides the rather gruesome arm, the hammer wound was also making a rather gruesome side wound with the blood soaking into the carpet.

"Okay, now, Lian, I want you to go sit on the couch, okay? I hear sirens coming this way so the ambulance will take care of your daddy." Superman spoke soothingly, trying to calm the now hysterical little girl. She’d been very brave and smart, but now that adult help was here, she couldn’t take it anymore. Her small body began to shake with the force of her frightened sobs. Realizing Lian wouldn’t be able to comply, Superman gently picked her up and set her on the couch out of the way. Picking up the phone he dialed 911 and spoke with the operator who answered. He directed the ambulance and waved off the SCU. "It’s okay. Just a household accident. Nothing to be alarmed about," he told the team.

Lian sat there, watching as the medic team picked up her daddy and placed him on the bed with wheels. She sniffled, looked around for Superman, spotted him talking to a tall man in a long brown coat and then clambered off the couch. "My daddy gonna be oh-kay?" she asked one of the medics.

The man looked down at her and smiled. "He’ll be fine. We’ll take him to the hospital and fix him up. Soon he’ll be as good as new."

"Lian." Superman walked over to her and picked her up. "Do you want to go with me? I can fly you to the hospital." Lian sniffled again and then smiled tremulously. "You were a very brave girl and I’m very proud of you. I just want to ask you a question." Lian nodded pitifully. "Why did you yell for me?"

"Canary told my baby-sitter to onct an’ ...an’ I ‘membered," Lian murmured, burying her head in his neck. He grinned. Well, that explained everything, he thought. "Can we go see Daddy now?" she asked miserably.

Superman walked out onto the sidewalk next to the apartment building and gathered her close in his arms. She needed to be relaxed and more in control. She needed to have fun to take her mind off the mess and let the emergency people take care of Roy. It was time for some sightseeing.

"Now hold on tight because we’re going to go high up in the sky!" he warned her. He felt her little hands clamp hard around his neck. "Ready?"

Lian looked up at the clouds and took a breath. "Yes," she responded hesitantly. Suddenly she was in the sky, flying with Superman. She looked down, her eyes wide with wonder. She wasn’t scared; this was Superman, he wouldn’t let her fall. "Everything tiny," she said in awe. "Cars look like bugs!"

Superman laughed. "You want to do a loop? I’ll hold you tight!"

Lian giggled in his ear. " ‘Kay!" she exclaimed and he complied. She squealed with delight. Soon the two were chasing birds, waving at airplane passengers and skimming the ocean surface to make it spray. By the time they got to the hospital sometime later, Lian was calm and cheerful, almost her old self. "Daddy gonna be oh-kay, right, Superman?" Lian asked him worriedly when they entered the waiting room.

"He sure will, Lian. He has a brave girl like you to take care of," Superman told her with a wink.

"No, Canary said I take care of Daddy," Lian told him seriously, her voice low as if it was a secret.

"Oh," said Superman in mock surprise, "okay. You tell Canary it’s our little secret. Arsenal will never know you take care of him." Lian giggled.

They entered Roy’s room, where the red-headed archer was staring out the window, his face a mask of parental worry. His arm was in a cast and his chest was bare, except for the white gauze bandage wrapped around his middle. He looked over when the door open and his expression turned to instant relief. "Oh, thank God!" he gushed. "I was worried about her!"

"She was with me the whole time, Arsenal," smiled Superman. He couldn't be offended that Arsenal was worried about his daughter's care even with Superman. Roy's parental instincts were strong, after all.

"Daddy okay?" asked Lian hesitantly, rubbing the toe of her shoe against a chair leg.

"I’m fine, Lian. Did you get hurt?" Roy looked concerned.

Lian couldn’t take the guilt anymore and began to blubber and cry, running to her daddy’s bed, reaching for his outstretched hand. "I sorry, Daddy! Didn’t mean to bump you chair! I be careful next time, I p’omise!" She crossed her heart with a semi-tearful/serious expression on her face.

Roy reached over as much as he could and hugged her. "It’s okay, Princess, it was an accident. I’m okay, just a little banged up is all."

"Your owies was bleedy," Lian fretted. "I hurted you bad, Daddy."

Roy smiled briefly, touched at his daughter’s obvious guilt trip over what occurred. "It’s over now, Princess, and everything’s okay now. Did you have fun flying with Superman?" he asked, changing the topic.

Lian immediately began babbling about everything they did. "An’ we waved at the people in airp’anes an’ Superman did a loopty-loop in the air with me," she concluded after telling him about the ocean and the waves they made. 

Roy grinned again and then laughed at her enthusiasm. "Princess, will you go get the nurse for me? She’s right outside." He pointed at the nurse taping something on the wall next to Roy’s room. Lian charged out the door, shouting at the nurse. "Thanks, Superman, I owe you one for this."

"No problem, Roy, glad to help. She’s a brave, smart little girl. You should be proud," Superman informed him.

Roy felt his chest swell with pride. "Oh, I don’t doubt it. I understand she called 911 and everything?"

"Even stuck her head out of the window and screamed for me." Superman looked highly amused. "That’s one way to page a fellow superhero, Arsenal. Having your daughter stick her head out of the window and shout that her daddy needs help."

Roy buried his face in the hand that wasn’t attached to the arm in the cast. "Oh God. How embarrassing."

"She said Canary told a baby-sitter to do that," Superman added dryly.

"Well, it worked so I can’t fault that." Roy laughed. "I don’t remembered what happened. Must have banged my head good. I remember climbing onto the chair to hang up a picture and then I’m waking up with a nurse giving me a shot of something. Maybe apartment decorating isn’t such a good idea."

"Well," Superman chuckled, "I’d make sure Lian isn’t playing with remote controlled cars when I do, if I were you." Roy laughed again.

"You needed me, Mr. Harper?" asked the nurse, being dragged in by a very impatient Lian.

"Yeah, when can I go home?" asked Roy wearily.

"We’d like to keep you here for one night, to keep an eye on that hammer wound. It gouged you pretty good. Tomorrow morning I’d say." Lian looked crestfallen.

"I’ll keep her until you get out, Roy, if the two of you would like. If she’s really good, I might take her after supper to the WatchTower to see where the JLA works." Lian’s eyes lit up.

"Oh please, please, please, Daddy?" begged Lian, dancing in place and clapping excitedly. "I be good, I p’omise! I be good!"

"All right," Roy told her, "but you have to be an angel with Superman. And you have to keep everything he shows about himself a secret, okay?"

"Like Uncle Nightwing?" Lian asked.

"Like Uncle Nightwing," confirmed Roy with a fatherly look of amusement.

"Oh-kay!" Lian nodded so hard her head was a blur.

"It’s settled then and we’ll see you in the morning." Superman picked her up and they left the room.

"Bye-bye, Daddy. See you in the morning!" sing-songed Lian.

"Bye, Princess!" called back Roy, exchanging a grin with the nurse. "What a family I have." He settled down to nap and ponder his good fortune in having a child like Lian. He grinned again, picturing his daughter sticking her head out the window to page Superman. Yes, good fortune to have a child like Lian and a friend like Superman.


End file.
